Friday, May 31, 2013

Australian immigration minister Brendan O'Connor has announced that Australia will keep its immigration target for 2013/14 at 190,000; the same number as for the previous year. Of these 128,500 permanent resident visas will go to skilled migrants and 60,885 to family members. There will also be 565 places for 'special eligibility migrants' who are former permanent residents who have close ties with Australia.

There had been speculation that the immigration target might be cut. In recent months, Australia's Labor government has turned immigration into an electoral issue in the run up to the general election this September. In February Mr O'Connor claimed that Australian firms had been abusing Australia's temporary skilled migration visa, the 457 visa, to employ poorly paid foreign workers at the expense of Australian job seekers. Prime Minister Julia Gillard also weighed in, saying that her government would 'put Aussie workers first'.

But the overall migration target has remained the same. Mr O'Connor has announced that 700 places will be shifted from the skilled migration category to the family migration category because demand is heavy.

Mr O'Connor released a statement on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) website in which he said 'The Gillard government's top priority will always be jobs for Australians. The permanent migration program is about getting the balance right between our economic and social objectives. Our migration program ensures skilled migrants will continue to fill critical gaps in regions and sectors with genuine skills shortages'.

Mr O'Connor's statement continued 'It is important that our skilled migration program is driven by genuine skills needs. Under the Gillard government, skilled migration to Australia will continue to be carefully targeted to ensure that migrants complement but do not replace the domestic labour force'.

He said 'Skilled migration continues to make up two thirds of the program because of its obvious benefits to our economy and society. Targeted skilled migration enables Australia's economy to grow by addressing skills gaps and bottlenecks'.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

A new report has found that the US, the UK and Australia are the three preferred destinations for professionals around the world seeking to relocate for work. The US was the top destination last year too. The UK has risen to take second place from Australia, which is third.

The survey was carried out by the ESCP Europe business school on behalf of the Hydrogen recruitment company. It is the fourth annual survey prepared for Hydrogen. ESCP questioned over 2,000 professional people who had relocated worldwide. They worked in a range of fields; technology, finance, life sciences, oil and gas and legal.

The survey found that those questioned chose to move to find greater career opportunities, to increase their earning potential and to experience life in another country. 72% said that they had earned more as a result of moving and 77% said it had enhanced their careers. 98% said they would recommend the experience to others.

The USA was the most popular destination in all these fields. In total 27% of professionals questioned said that they would like to relocate to the US. 13% of people said they would relocate to the UK and slightly fewer said they would choose Australia.

The UK was the second most popular destination for technology professionals, lawyers and life science workers but, surprisingly, was not in the top three for financial professionals despite the fact that the City of London is one of the world's leading financial hubs.

Equally surprising to some might be the emergence of the UK as a global magnet for technology professionals. Britain has not been particularly well-known for having a high-tech industry but Dan Fox of Hydrogen told PR Newswire that the UK and, in particular, east London, is fast becoming globally important.

'The US is still the dominant force, but the UK is definitely on the march. The States has Silicon Valley and San Francisco. The UK has Silicon Roundabout near Old Street, where you've got all these exciting firms opening. A lot of Europeans view the UK as a tech hub where you can work for exciting fast-paced companies. We're seeing a lot of Europeans coming to work in the UK.'

The survey also found that 86% of professionals who choose to work abroad end up staying longer than they expected. Over 63% of those questioned stayed for over six years and over half of all those questioned said that they were considering applying for permanent resident status in the country where they currently live.

The survey found that professionals still favour the developed world, despite the difficult economic times faced by these countries in recent years. Eight of the top 15 countries are in North America or Europe. Of the remaining seven, two are Australia and New Zealand. Brazil and China have made the top 15 but India has not.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Over 20% of Canadians were born in other countries and have become Canadians by naturalisation, a national survey shows. This makes Canada the country with the highest proportion of immigrant citizens on earth. The National Household Survey was completed in 2011 by around 74% of the Canadian population. About 6.3m people out of Canada's population of about 33,000,000 were born citizens of other countries.

The survey also shows that mass immigration has changed the ethnic makeup of Canada hugely in the last two decades. Whereas, in the 1960s, most immigration to Canada came from Europe, now, 82.4% of immigrants are non-European. Immigrants are reported to have arrived in Canada from 200 countries. 6.3m Canadians, 19% of the population, now say that they come from 'a visible ethnic minority'. The three largest ethnic minority groups are south Asians, Chinese and black.

The survey found that 1.2m migrants settled in Canada between 2006 and 2011 and that over half of these, (56.9%) came from Asia, including the Middle East. During the 1970s, only 8.5% of Canadian immigrants came from Asia. Between 2006 and 2011, 13.1% of immigrants or 152,300 people came from the Philippines alone. 10.5% (122,100) came from China and 10.4% (121,400) came from India.

More migrants from Philippines than from Europe in 2006-2011

13.7% of the migrants arriving between 2006 and 2011 came from the entirety of Europe, only just more than the number coming from the Philippines. In the 1970s, 75% of immigrants were Europeans. 12.1% of immigrants over the five year period between 2006 and 2011 came from Africa.

Respondents were asked to record their ethnicity and these responses showed that Canada is extremely ethnically diverse. 200 different ethnicities were given by respondents. The survey suggests that there are over 1m Canadians belonging to 13 different ethnic groups. These are:

First nations (Aboriginal Canadians such as Inuit and native Americans)

Canadian

English

Scottish

Irish

French

German

Italian

Chinese

Ukrainian

East Indian

Dutch

Polish

Immigrants now settling all over Canada

The survey also showed that fewer new immigrants move to Toronto, the capital and to the province of Ontario than had been the case, although it is still home to 3.6m immigrants, over half of the total. Between 2006 and 2011, 43% of new citizens settled in Ontario and most of these settled in Toronto, Ontario's biggest city. Nearly 50% of Toronto's population was born abroad but the survey shows that new Canadians are also choosing to settle in Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and elsewhere.

The National Household Survey was first held in 2011 as a controversial replacement for a census which had been held at regular intervals in Canada since 1825. The Conservative government scrapped the census, which every Canadian household was required to complete by law, with the voluntary Household Survey.

Unlike the census, the National Household Survey was sent to only 4.5m households across Canada. Of the 4.5m questionnaires distributed, 74% (about 3,330,000) were completed. Although this makes the figures less reliable than census data, the survey nonetheless provides a very detailed picture of the nation's makeup.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Do you want to move to Canada? A recent poll showed that Canada is the third most popular migration destination in the world after the USA and the UK. 42m people told the GALLUP polling company that they would like to settle there. And Canada is actively encouraging skilled workers from around the world to do so.

The Canadian government says that Canada needs to encourage immigration because the native population is aging. This means that, while some other countries are cutting immigration, Canada continues to welcome international migrants. Canada continues to grant permanent resident visas to 250,000 people each year. It has recently re-opened the Federal Skilled Worker Program, its main skilled worker immigration program. It also issues nearly 200,000 temporary work permits each year.

Canada has a great deal to offer to immigrants beyond a relatively welcoming immigration regime. Canada's economy is the 11th largest in the world and it survived the global economic crisis of 2007-2010 relatively unscathed. The average yearly salary in December 2012 was around CAN$47,200 (US$46,706, GB£30,385)

The FSWP is Canada's main skilled immigration program. About 55,000 people annually receive Canadian permanent resident visas under this program. The program was suspended in July 2012 by Jason Kenney and re-opened on May 4th 2013.

To qualify, you must score 67 points out of 100 awarded for

Language ability

Age

Education

Work experience

Having an offer of employment in Canada

Adaptability

In addition, you will have to meet one of the following criteria

You have at least one year of continuous work experience in one of 24 eligible occupations on the eligible occupations list. From now on, 5,000 FSWP permanent resident visas will be awarded to people with experience of one of these occupations

You have a 'qualifying offer of arranged employment' in Canada

You have a PhD and can therefore apply through the 'PhD stream'

You must also prove that you speak English and/or French to a minimum standard and, where you are relying on a foreign educational qualification you must have that qualification assessed by a licenced Canadian credential assessment organisation.

Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)

The TFWP allows Canadian employers to employ foreign workers on temporary contracts. A Canadian employer who wants to employ an international worker must often first obtain a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) which will show that the hiring of an international worker by the employer will have either a neutral or a positive effect on the Canadian jobs market. Employers may be able to employ some workers (particularly those from the USA) without an LMO.

Where an LMO is required, after the employer has received a neutral or positive LMO, he may offer the job to an international worker. The international worker will then, having been offered a job, apply to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for a work permit. This will allow the worker to work in Canada for the period of their work contract. TFWP work permits will last for a maximum of four years. Many though, last for only one or two years.

TFWP workers can apply for permanent residence

After being in Canada for some time, TFWP workers may be able to apply for permanent resident visas, perhaps through the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program. Anyone with 12 months experience of working in Canada within the last three years is able to apply for a permanent resident visa. CIC says that 9,353 people obtained Canadian permanent resident visas under CEC in 2012.

CIC figures show that the number of TFWP work permits issued annually has risen sharply. There are currently around 300,000 TFWP workers in Canada, three times more than in 2002. More than 192,000 TFWP workers entered Canada in 2011 alone. In 2011, 29,000 workers who had entered Canada as TFWP work permit holders received permanent resident visas.

After two cases of suspected abuse of the TFWP, Canadian immigration minister Jason Kenney announced a series of reforms to the program. These changes have made it slightly harder to get a TFWP work permit.

TFWP workers must now be paid the 'prevailing wage' for the job (there had been freedom to pay up to 15% less than the market rate) and the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) which allowed employers to receive an LMO in a few weeks has been suspended. However, the TFWP program has not been suspended and it remains a popular choice among those wishing to work in Canada.

Friday, May 24, 2013

The UK government says that it intends to pass legislation that they say will encourage people who want to contribute to the country but discourage those who want to take advantage of the UK's social benefits. The proposed legislation was revealed by Queen Elizabeth II at the state opening of parliament in Westminster on Wednesday 8th May 2013.

The State Opening of Parliament is an annual event at which the monarch reads a speech outlining her government's legislative agenda for the coming year. This year, the immigration bill was one of the major announcements in the seven minute long speech. The speech contained commitments from the government to pass fifteen laws which will deal with matters as diverse as pensions, social care, job creation and immigration.

The Queen announced that the immigration bill would ensure that the UK 'attracts those who will contribute and deters those who will not'. The bill will do the following if it becomes law:

Restrict access to the NHS for foreign nationals in the UK

Require visitors to the UK to make a contribution towards the costs of any treatment they receive from the NHS

Introduce bigger fines for firms which employ foreign workers who do not have the right to work in the UK

Oblige private landlords to check the immigration status of prospective tenants before they rent a property. A failure to do so may result in hefty fines

Require the courts, when considering applications from foreign criminals to remain in the UK under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to consider the impact on the victims and on society generally. Article 8 says that everyone has the right to family life. This has been interpreted by the courts in such a way that some foreign criminals have been allowed to stay in the UK because they have fathered a child even after they have committed serious offences.

Measures do not tackle important issues on illegal immigration – Labour

The UK's Labour Party opposition has said that the measures 'don't tackle important issues on exploitation and illegal immigration'. The Labour Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said, in a statement 'we support the measures promised…but it appears their impact will be limited'.

Ms Cooper said that the government was doing nothing to prevent the exploitation of foreign workers. Ed Miliband, the opposition leader, said, in a speech in the House of Commons, that a failure to prevent unscrupulous employers paying wages below the minimum wage to foreign workers was driving down wages for all.

Labour also said that the government had announced no measures to combat illegal immigration nor to give the power of arrest to immigration staff.

The bill will not alter the UK's five tier points-based immigration system which deals with work and student immigration. Tier 1 visas are for 'high value migrants such as entrepreneurs, those with exceptional talent and the like. Tier 2 is for skilled workers. Tier 4 is for students and Tier 5 for temporary workers intending to stay in the UK for less than two years.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Brendan O'Connor, the Australian immigration minister has been forced to admit that he had no evidence to support his claim, made on Australian TV last week, that about 10% of subclass 457 temporary work visas had been 'rorted', or obtained fraudulently.

On Sunday 28th April 2013, Mr O'Connor claimed that 10,000 foreign workers were in Australia with fraudulently obtained 457 visas. He appeared on Sky News and said ''Insofar as numbers, I believe that the areas where there's been an illegitimate use of 457s numbers are not negligible. I would say it would exceed 10,000.'

Australian government figures show that there are about 107,000 temporary workers in Australia with 457 visas. These visas allow foreign workers to work in Australia for up to four years.

O'Connor admits 'forecasting' number of fraudulent 457 visas last year

On Friday 3rd May, Mr O'Connor was forced to admit that his claim that about 10,000 457 visas had been obtained by 'rorting' was a 'forecast'. He said 'I'm making a forecast like others have made forecasts. The difference is I seem to be being challenged – fine. My point is this: There are transgressions… they're more than negligible. I've sought to estimate what I think is the appropriate number'.

As soon as Mr O'Connor made his initial claim on Sunday, employers' representatives expressed scepticism at the claim. Peter Anderson of the Australian Chamber of Commerce said that, if it was true, then this reflected very poorly on the government which was, itself, the largest single employer of people on 457 visas.

Innes Willox of the Australian Industry Group said that 'the extreme rarity of prosecutions or even sanctions against employers would suggest that there is no systemic abuse of the 457 program'.

DIAC report says rorting is rare

Embarrassingly for Mr O'Connor, a report prepared by his own department, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), in December 2012 says that abuse of the 457 visa system was rare. The report was released shortly after Mr O'Connor's Sky TV interview on Sunday 28th after a Freedom of Information Act request was made to DIAC demanding to see data about the abuse of 457 visas.

The Australian Freedom of Information Act allows Australian citizens to request information held by government and state government departments. The governmental body concerned should, under most circumstances, disclose any information requested unless there is a valid reason to withhold it, such as national security.

The Australian opposition coalition has complained that Mr O'Connor's claims were part of the Labor Party government's attempt to divert attention from the growing number of refugees arriving in Australia by sea.

Opposition says O'Connor using 457 abuse as a diversion

Scott Morrison, the coalition's immigration spokesman said 'Labor's smearing of skilled migration is a desperate attempt to distract attention from their chronic border failures that this year will see more than 20,000 people arrive illegally by boat'.

The coalition claims that the governing Labor Party is seeking to use allegations of 'rorting' to cast themselves as the supporters of Australian workers in the run-up to the Australian general election which will be held in September.

Scott Barklamb of the Australian Mines and Metals Association told Australian paper The Age that the government was 'irresponsibly attempting to stir up a dog-whistling, quasi-xenophobic campaign'.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

An officer of the UK's National Union of Students (NUS) has criticised the UK's Coalition government saying that its immigration policy makes international students 'feel unwelcome with ever more onerous restrictions'. Daniel Stevens, the International Students Officer at the NUS, says that he fears that the government's tough talk and policies on immigration are creating an atmosphere that will deter foreign students from coming to the UK.

Mr Stevens made his claims in online journal The Huffington Post on 9th May 2013, the day after the State Opening of Parliament during which The UK's queen, Elizabeth II, announced the government's intention to legislate on immigration in the coming months. Each year at the State Opening of Parliament, the queen is required to read out a speech written by her government outlining the legislation it intends to introduce in the next year.

The government's proposed immigration bill contains no provisions concerning students. In fact, it contains no provisions concerning any visas issued under the UK's five tier points-based visa system. There are, therefore, no changes to visas for high value migrants (Tier 1 visas), highly skilled migrants (Tier 2 visas) , students (Tier 4 visas) or temporary workers (Tier 5 visas). It seems that Mr Stevens is concerned that students may be deterred by a generally unwelcoming attitude to immigrants in the UK.

Britain will welcome those who wish to contribute

The government has claimed that its proposed immigration bill will make the UK welcoming to immigrants who wish to 'contribute' and unwelcoming to those who do not. The measures proposed include:

A limit on the right of foreign nationals to use the UK's National Health Service

Increasing fines for employers who employ workers who are not allowed to work in the UK

A requirement that all private landlords should make prospective tenants prove that they are in the UK legally before letting them a property

A measure to limit the right of foreign criminals to depend on Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights when applying to remain in the UK. Article 8 says that all people have a right to a family life. The UK government says that this Article has been interpreted too liberally by UK and European courts which, the government says, allow dangerous criminals to stay in the UK purely because they have fathered children, thus endangering the rest of society.

Mr Stevens told The Huffington Post 'The Home Office have set arbitrary targets for reducing immigration and international students are a soft target despite the huge academic, cultural and financial contributions they make to their universities and the communities in which they live. Ministers must stop treating international students like a political football by recognising their value and removing them from the immigration statistics'.

The government did not, in fact, ask the Queen to announce any new targets for immigration during her speech at the State Opening. It has, however, committed itself to an informal target of reducing net immigration to the UK to 'tens of thousands' annually by 2015. This is taken to mean fewer than 100,000 per year. When the Coalition came to power in 2010, net immigration was about 250,000 per annum.

Over 200,000 international students arrive in the UK each year

Critics of this commitment say that the only way that the Coalition would be able to meet its target would be by cutting the number of international students coming to the UK each year. This is because the UK issues between 200,000 and 300,000 visas each year. It would therefore be impossible, they say, to cut UK net immigration to below 100,000 each year without cutting the number of students coming to the UK.

The government has said that its intention is to prevent bogus students from coming to the UK while encouraging 'the brightest and the best' to study at UK universities. The current immigration minister, Mark Harper MP, told online education journal The Pie last month that the government had acted to close down colleges that sold 'immigration not education'. He said that 500 bogus colleges had lost their licences to sponsor international students for Tier 4 visas but insisted that there had been a 1% rise in the number of university students studying at UK universities.

Mr Stevens joins a long list of voices calling on the government to exclude students from the immigration statistics. In January, the chairman of five UK parliamentary committees (Three House of Commons committees; the Home Affairs Committee, the Public Accounts Committee and the Science Committee and two from the House of Lords; the Science and European Union Committees) wrote to the Prime Minister, David Cameron, and urged him to remove students from the immigration statistics in order to 'reconcile the tensions between visa policy and aspirations for growth'.

Cabinet split on whether to remove students from immigration figures

It is believed that two ministers in the UK government cabinet favour this approach including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne and the Business Secretary, Vince Cable.

However, Home Secretary Theresa May, whose department has responsibility for policing immigration, has ruled out such a move. She has said that students must remain in the statistics as international statistical standards require that anyone who moves to a country for a year or more should be classed as an immigrant.

Nicola Dandridge of Universities UK told the Huffington Post that the number of enrolments of international students at UK universities 'remained broadly flat this year'. She argued that this showed that 'there is now a need for more joined up thinking and better messaging in terms of international students. If the government's aim is to make the UK a country that attracts people who will contribute, they need look no further than international students'.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The latest figures from the Canadian government show that there are now over 300,000 workers in Canada with work permits allowing them to work for one or two years under the Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). The number of work permits has grown rapidly in recent years. In order to work in Canada under the TFWP, workers must first apply for a TFWP work permit and then a Canadian entry visa.

The number of TFWP workers in Canada trebled between 2002 and 2011. Over 192,000 Temporary Foreign Workers entered Canada in 2011 alone.

TFWP work permits are granted to foreign workers to allow them to work in a variety of different sectors. The sectors for which the most permits were granted last year are as follows:

Sales and service – 70,520

Primary industries – 42,595

Trades, transport, equipment operators – 36,680

Art, culture, recreation, sport – 16,300

Natural and applied sciences – 14,125

Processing, manufacturing and utilities 9,110

Management – 3,875

Business , finance and administration - 2,885

Health - 2,540

Social Science, Government, Religion – 2,455

TFWP permits usually last for one year

TFWP work permits usually last for one year though semi-skilled workers are currently able to get 24 month visas.

Before Canadian employers can employ temporary foreign workers, they are often required to obtain a 'Labour Market Opinion' (LMO). A positive LMO will satisfy the relevant government department Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, that there is a need to employ the foreign worker. The foreign worker will then send a copy of the LMO when applying for his work permit.

Not all temporary foreign workers require LMOs to get a Temporary Foreign Worker work permit. In 2012, about 72,000 required LMOs and 120,000 did not.

Monday, May 20, 2013

A study carried out by researchers from the London School of Economics (LSE) shows that immigrants in the UK do not seem to commit more crimes than the native population. Some UK newspapers have stated that immigrants are responsible for a considerable proportion of crime. The LSE survey found that there was usually no statistical basis for these claims.

The LSE team looked at crime rates in areas where large numbers of immigrants from eastern Europe had settled since 2004. They found that, in areas where the population comprised 30% or more immigrants, on the whole, rates of crime had, in fact, fallen since then. There were particularly noteworthy falls in the levels of property crime and of violence.

Brian Bell, an LSE research fellow, told UK Sunday newspaper The Observer 'The view that foreigners commit more crime is not true. The truth is that immigrants are just like natives; if they have a good job and a good income, they don't commit crime'.

Immigrants tend to drink less

The survey found that the number of crimes of violence were also lower in immigrant areas. This, according to criminologist Marian Fitzgerald is because the immigrant populations tend to be poorer and therefore to drink less. Most assaults are committed by people who are drunk. 'Most immigrants are not affluent so it's not surprising that immigration has no impact on that large proportion of total violence which is a function of affluence' said Ms Fitzgerald.

The study found one group of immigrants whose presence was linked to an increase in the crime rate. Researchers found that, in areas where large numbers of asylum seekers settled from the late 1990s onwards, crime was 'significantly higher'.

The reasons for this are not understood. It may be that a significant proportion of the increased crime might be accounted for by assaults on asylum seekers by native Britons. Or it may be that, because unemployment tends to be higher among asylum seekers than among other groups of immigrants, they are more likely to turn to crime.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Dick Durbin, a Democratic Party senator from Illinois, has said that Indian IT firms like TCS, Infosys and Tata Consulting are abusing the US H-1B temporary work visa.

Mr Durbin told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Americans would be surprised to find out which companies were using H-1B visas to bring skilled staff into the US. 'H-1B visas are not going to Microsoft. They're going to these firms, largely in India, who are finding workers, engineers, who will work at low wages in the US for three years and pay a fee to Infosys or these companies,' he said.

Neeraj Gupta, the CEO of Systems in Motion, agreed. He told the committee that 'the majority of these visas end up being used for the wrong purpose'.

Employers should act in 'good faith'

Ron Hira, a professor of public policy at Rochester Institute of Technology, told the committee that the H-1B visa was being abused. He said that the law should be changed to create a requirement that employers should act in 'good faith' when recruiting H-1B workers. They would be required to make a genuine attempt to find a US employee to do the work before employing an H-1B worker.

Brad Smith of Microsoft also gave evidence to the committee. He said that Microsoft broadly welcomed the Gang of Eight's bill. He said that the Indian IT companies needed to 'evolve their business model' and 'focus on hiring more people in the US'. However, he stressed that the H-1B visa was an important way for Microsoft to hire global talent.

No representatives of Indian outsourcing firms gave evidence to the committee.

Mr Durbin is a member of the so-called 'Gang of Eight' senators who have been working on a draft law which would comprehensively reform the US immigration system. The Gang released the draft act; The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act 2013 on 16th April to mixed reviews.

'H-1B dependent employers' would pay more

If it became law, the bill would see the number of H-1B visas issued every year rise immediately from 65,000 to 110,000 and allow the number of H-1Bs to rise to a maximum of 180,000 per year at times of high demand. It would also introduce new penalty fees of up to $10,000 per employee for 'H-1B dependent employers'.

A firm with over 50 employees would pay a $5,000 fee for each extra H-1B visa if its staff comprised between 30 and 50% workers with H-1B visas and L-1 visas.

Firms with over 50 employees would pay a $10,000 fee for each extra H-1B visa if its staff comprised over 50% H-1B and L-1 visa holders.

Firms with over 50 employees whose staff comprised 75% or more H-1B and L-1 visa holders would be barred from applying for any more H-1B visas at all. This maximum percentage would fall, over time, to 50%.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Canadian government ministers have announced a U-turn in their policy on temporary foreign workers. The announcement comes after two high profile cases which seemed to show abuse of the system have caused negative headlines for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Temporary foreign workers who work in Canada under the Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) must now be paid at the same rate as Canadian workers, there will be greater enforcement of the requirement that temporary foreign workers should not displace Canadians and English and French will be the only languages which can be specified as a requirement for employment. The changes will take place with immediate effect.

Last year, Canada introduced several changes to the TFWP aimed at stimulating the economy. It allowed employers to pay foreign temporary workers 15% less than the median pay in any sector and also speeded up the system for gaining work permits. The Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) allowed employers to get work permits for foreign staff in about ten days. Both these measures have been reversed because of cases which seem to show that they are encouraging employers to employ foreign workers instead of Canadians.

Temporary workers must be paid 'the prevailing wage'

On 29th April 2013, Jason Kenney, the Canadian Minister for Immigration and Multiculturalism, and Diane Finley, the Human Resources Minister, gave a joint press conference in Ottawa to announce the changes which are as follows.

All temporary foreign workers must now be paid 'the prevailing wage' for the job that they are doing.

The Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) process will be suspended.

The government will have greater powers to suspend and revoke work permits where the system has been abused

Employers will need to show that they are not replacing Canadian workers with foreign workers.

Employers which rely heavily on foreign workers will need to show how they intend to employ more Canadians in future

The government will raise the fees for applications to employ foreign workers.

Employers will no longer be able to specify that employees must speak language other than English and French (Canada's national languages) in order to take a job.

The ministers were responding to two recent, high profile cases which, unions allege, show that the TFWP is being abused by employers.

In November 2012, unions launched a court case against HD Mining, a mining company which imported 200 Chinese miners into a mine in British Columbia. The unions said that there were plenty of available Canadian miners to do the job and the Chinese miners were being paid CAN$10 an hour less than the market rate. The company said that this was because the mine was using the 'long wall' mining technique which was not used in Canada so there were no suitably qualified miners available locally. HD Mining is 55% owned by a Chinese company.

Unions allege abuse of the system

Unions alleged that the Chinese miners were also being forced to make illegal payments to that company in order to work in Canada. The unions said that it was an abuse of the system to bring in workers and pay them less than the market rate when there were plenty of unemployed Canadian miners living locally. They said that the employer was only employing Chinese speaking miners, further disadvantaging Canadian workers.

The second case was even more damaging to the reputation of the TFWP because it involved the flagship Canadian bank, The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). It also involved allegations that existing staff were being made redundant and replaced by foreign temporary workers.

Unions allege that RBC subcontracted certain functions to Indian outsourcing firm iGate. iGate then applied to the Canadian government for permission to bring in temporary workers. This was granted and once the temporary workers arrived, existing Canadian staff were instructed to train them and were then made redundant. The iGate staff were paid less than their Canadian counterparts.

iGate: 'Authorizations are properly issued under existing law '

When the news of this arrangement broke in early April, iGate spokesman Prabhanjan Deshpande said that the company was doing nothing wrong; 'For any engagement requiring foreign workers, appropriate immigration applications are filed by iGate and all work authorizations are properly issued under existing law and policy'.

However, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Go Public investigative TV programme claims that iGate has yet to respond to allegations that it did not inform the Canadian government that its workers would take the jobs of Canadian staff when applying for Canadian work permits.

At the time, a Canadian government spokesman said 'We recently learned of allegations that RBC could be replacing Canadian workers by contracting with iGate, which is filling some of the roles with temporary foreign workers. If true, this situation is unacceptable'.

Even before these latest cases, unions in Canada were complaining that Canadian employers were replacing indigenous workers with cheaper temporary foreign workers on work permits. They say that foreign workers are not being used as a last resort, as the law requires, but were, instead, being used as an alternative to Canadians and to drive down wages.

Number of temporary foreign workers has more than doubled since 2002

The unions point to the fact that the number of temporary foreign workers with short term work permits (usually lasting either one or two years) has risen from about 185,000 in 2002 to around 447,000 in 2011. Meanwhile, the Canadian unemployment rate has remained higher than 7%.

But Sharaf Sultan, a lawyer at Canadian law firm Heenan Blaikie says that the TFWP contains many protections for Canadian workers and 'thoughtfully assesses the potential impact of the entry of a foreigner in the Canadian labour market. Contrary to the accusations of several commentators, the TFWP is already geared, first and foremost, at protecting local labour markets'. He adds 'Canada faces serious labour shortages across various regions and sectors of the economy'.

In order to employ a foreign worker under the TFWP, a Canadian employer (or international employer like iGate) must receive a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), the Canadian government's department for employment.

Accelerated LMO procedure reduced protection

An LMO is a certificate which assesses the likely impact of employing a foreign worker on the Canadian economy. In order to be allowed to employ a foreign worker, employers must show that this will have a neutral or a positive effect on the Canadian jobs market. This is done by showing that the job has been adequately advertised to Canadian workers. However, after the government had introduced the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO), it became easier for employers to get approval without showing that they had advertised. The unions say that this resulted in reduced protection for Canadian workers.

The joint announcement by Mr Kenney and Ms Finley will, seemingly, make it harder to get LMOs for foreign workers. Ms Finley told the press conference 'The purpose of the TFW program is to help fill genuine and acute labour needs and we have been reviewing the program to ensure that goal is met and Canadian workers are never displaced.'

Even so, the overall trend towards the employment of more workers on temporary work visas, both in Canada and globally, looks set to continue.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Brendan O'Connor, the Australian immigration minister has been forced to admit that he had no evidence to support his claim, made on Australian TV last week, that about 10% of subclass 457 temporary work visas had been 'rorted', or obtained fraudulently.

On Sunday 28th April 2013, Mr O'Connor claimed that 10,000 foreign workers were in Australia with fraudulently obtained 457 visas. He appeared on Sky News and said ''Insofar as numbers, I believe that the areas where there's been an illegitimate use of 457s numbers are not negligible. I would say it would exceed 10,000.'

Australian government figures show that there are about 107,000 temporary workers in Australia with 457 visas. These visas allow foreign workers to work in Australia for up to four years.

O'Connor admits 'forecasting' number of fraudulent 457 visas last year

On Friday 3rd May, Mr O'Connor was forced to admit that his claim that about 10,000 457 visas had been obtained by 'rorting' was a 'forecast'. He said 'I'm making a forecast like others have made forecasts. The difference is I seem to be being challenged – fine. My point is this: There are transgressions… they're more than negligible. I've sought to estimate what I think is the appropriate number'.

As soon as Mr O'Connor made his initial claim on Sunday, employers' representatives expressed scepticism at the claim. Peter Anderson of the Australian Chamber of Commerce said that, if it was true, then this reflected very poorly on the government which was, itself, the largest single employer of people on 457 visas.

Innes Willox of the Australian Industry Group said that 'the extreme rarity of prosecutions or even sanctions against employers would suggest that there is no systemic abuse of the 457 program'.

DIAC report says rorting is rare

Embarrassingly for Mr O'Connor, a report prepared by his own department, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), in December 2012 says that abuse of the 457 visa system was rare. The report was released shortly after Mr O'Connor's Sky TV interview on Sunday 28th after a Freedom of Information Act request was made to DIAC demanding to see data about the abuse of 457 visas.

The Australian Freedom of Information Act allows Australian citizens to request information held by government and state government departments. The governmental body concerned should, under most circumstances, disclose any information requested unless there is a valid reason to withhold it, such as national security.

The Australian opposition coalition has complained that Mr O'Connor's claims were part of the Labor Party government's attempt to divert attention from the growing number of refugees arriving in Australia by sea.

Opposition says O'Connor using 457 abuse as a diversion

Scott Morrison, the coalition's immigration spokesman said 'Labor's smearing of skilled migration is a desperate attempt to distract attention from their chronic border failures that this year will see more than 20,000 people arrive illegally by boat'.

The coalition claims that the governing Labor Party is seeking to use allegations of 'rorting' to cast themselves as the supporters of Australian workers in the run-up to the Australian general election which will be held in September.

Scott Barklamb of the Australian Mines and Metals Association told Australian paper The Age that the government was 'irresponsibly attempting to stir up a dog-whistling, quasi-xenophobic campaign'.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The UK's independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, John Vine, has released his plan for inspections for 2013-14. He says he will carry out 20 inspections of various parts of the UK immigration system including six unannounced visits.

Mr Vine says he hopes the plan will accelerate the pace of improvement in the immigration system.

Mr Vine has been the inspector of immigration since 2008. He is thought by the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, which scrutinises the work of UK immigration services, to be a powerful force for reform in UK immigration. Indeed, Keith Vaz, the chairman of the committee suggested that Mr Vine should apply to become the permanent secretary to the Home Office, the senior civil servant in charge of policing, immigration and other Home Office functions, when the post was vacant in 2012.

UK immigration was 'not fit for purpose' in 2006

The UK's immigration system has been in turmoil for years. In 2006, the then Home Secretary John Reid, declared that the immigration system was 'not fit for purpose' after a backlog of 450,000 unresolved asylum cases was found, abandoned in an underground storage facility.

Mr Reid (Now Lord Reid) abolished the Immigration and Nationality Directorate which was then responsible for immigration. In 2008, a new, independent body, the UK Border Agency, was established to deal with the immigration system. It was hoped by the Labour government that was in power at the time that the independence of the UKBA would allow it more operational autonomy and allow it to develop effective management systems free from day-to-day political interference.

Inspector has exposed multiple failings

However, Mr Vine has since helped to expose considerable failings in the UKBA. For example, in 2012

It emerged that, on several occasions in early 2011, the UKBA had abandoned efforts to check biometric passports at Heathrow Airport at peak travel times and had failed to check names against security databases. This led to the resignation of the then head of border policing operations, Brodie Clark. After this, immigration operations in sea, air and rail ports were handed over to a new agency, The UK Border Force.

In 2012, Mr Vine and his inspectors uncovered a hidden backlog of 180,000 cases in the 'migration refusals pool'. These were cases in which applications for the leave to remain in the UK had been refused but the UKBA had made no efforts to find and expel the applicants.

In March 2013, the Home Affairs Committee issued a report saying that Mr Vine and his inspectors had uncovered backlogs of over 310,000 cases which would, at the current rate, take 24 years to clear.

UKBA was 'not good enough' in 2013

On 26th March 2013, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, said that she would abolish the UKBA because it had developed a secretive and defensive culture and was simply 'not good enough'. She said the functions of the UKBA would be taken back into the Home Office and placed inside two directorates one of which would deal with visa and citizenship applications and the other of which would deal with immigration enforcement and the removal of those without leave to remain in the UK.

Mr Vine said 'the decision of the Home Secretary to split up the UKBA echoes my findings that while there has been progress in some areas, there is much more that can be done'.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Jason Kenney, the Canadian immigration minister has said that his department, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), will investigate allegations of abuse of the Canadian Intra Company Transfer Program (ICTP) which have been made by insiders in the Canadian IT industry.

The ICTP allows international employers to transfer staff from their offices elsewhere to work in their Canadian operation. Unlike most employers who want to bring in temporary workers from other countries, these international employers are not required to obtain a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) to prove that employing the foreign national would have a neutral or positive effect on the Canadian jobs market. Workers will need to apply for a Canadian work permit and a Canadian entry visa.

In order to qualify, the employee must provide details of their qualifications along with their work permit application to show that they have the appropriate level of knowledge. If successful, they must then apply for a Canadian entry visa before travelling to Canada.

Outsourcers accused of displacing Canadian staff

Industry insiders have alleged that international outsourcing firms, many of which are from India, have been using Canadian intra company transfer visas to make huge profits but are providing poor service to their clients. The savings that they make come from laying off better paid Canadian staff and then bringing in poorly paid Indian substitutes.

The ICTP allows international companies to move employees to Canada providing they fall within one of three categories:

Executive: for senior managers

Managerial: for middle managers and

Specialized Knowledge: for workers who have, through their work, 'gained a specialized or advanced level of knowledge in the organization. This knowledge, while not necessarily proprietary, should be very uncommon in the general labour market.'

Once workers are inside Canada, they can renew their work permits up to a maximum of five years.

Specialized knowledge visa 'being abused'

While there are no statistics available as to how many workers are now working in Canada under any of these headings, it is alleged that it is the specialized knowledge category that has been abused.

Industry insiders allege that international outsourcing companies such as Cognizant, Tata Consulting, iGate and Mahindra Satyam are abusing this visa to bring in employees who have no 'specialized knowledge'. They say that the CVs of employees have been doctored to overstate the level of their qualifications so that they could qualify for work permits.

A spokesman for Tata Consulting said that the claims of abuse of the system, in particular that employees misled Canadian immigration as to the level of their qualifications, were 'false and without any merit in fact'.

National scandal caused by job losses at Royal Bank of Canada

Nonetheless, there have been complaints about abuse of the system for some time, according to whistle blowers who have spoken to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, but these have been ignored by CIC. Now, a scandal caused by the operations of the Indian outsourcer iGate at the Canadian national bank, The Royal Bank of Canada, seems to have persuaded Mr Kenney to act.

In early April, it emerged that 45 IT staff at RBC had been made redundant and replaced by staff brought from India by iGate, an Indian company. The RBC staff said that the Indian staff had no special skills or training and, in fact, had to be trained by the Canadian staff they replaced.

The initial focus of the Canadian media storm over this news was the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which allows foreign workers to work in Canada. On Monday 29th April 2013, Mr Kenney and the Human Resources Minister Diane Finley announced reforms of the TFWP that would require temporary foreign workers to be paid the same as Canadian workers.

However, the chief executive of RBC told CBC that only one in 14 of the foreign workers brought in by iGate were working in Canada with TFWP work permits. It seems likely, therefore, that the rest came in under the ICTP.

ICTP system is under investigation

Mr Kenney told the CBC investigative program Go Public that the system was under investigation. He said 'we want to make sure that people are not using that [the ICTP] as a kind of back door to undercut the Canadian labour market or displace Canadian workers'.

Mr Kenney made it clear that he was not seeking to end the ICTP. He said 'It would be hugely damaging to our economy if we suddenly erected huge barriers to the movement of skilled labour within certain companies'.

Industry insiders have told Go Public that outsourcing firms

Won Canadian contracts with unrealistic promises of massive savings and occasionally with bribes

Persuaded employees to exaggerate their qualifications on their CVs (résumés) so that they would appear to have 'specialized knowledge'

May have broken immigration rules by placing ICTP workers in Canadian firms

Employed workers with bogus qualifications which are bought from bogus Indian colleges

CIC has doubts about Indian qualifications

CBC programme Go Public revealed Canadian government documents which show that the Canadian government has been aware of this last problem for some time. An internal CIC report said that in 2012-13 'verification of Indian education, employment, and financial documentation is labour intensive and often without conclusive outcomes'.

The Canadian opposition immigration spokeswoman Jinny Sims said 'This whole file needs to be fixed immediately'.

Friday, May 10, 2013

The US tech industry has given a cautious welcome to the draft immigration bill released by a group of US senators on 16th April 2013.

The bill was revealed by a group of eight senators, four Republicans and four Democrats, who have been working on a draft bill since January. The group were nicknamed The Gang of Eight by the US media.

The bill is 844 pages long and will introduce many changes. Among these are the following. It will:

Provide for greater security measures to be introduced along the US-Mexico border

Introduce a 'pathway to citizenship' for the 11m illegal immigrants believed to be in the US.

Create a new 'w-visa' for low-skilled workers

Increase the number of employment-based permanent resident visas (or green cards) for certain skilled workers and their families and exclude certain graduates from the caps on the number of employment based green cards that can be issued each year. The following groups will be excluded from the cap. There will be no visa limit on these categories:

Dependants of employment based immigrants

Aliens of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics.

Increase the number of H-1B 'specialty occupation' visas that can be issued each year from 65,000 to a maximum of 180,000 annually but make firms that use a great number of H-1Bs pay a supplemental fee of up to $10,000 for each H-1B visa holder they employ. The fee for visas will be highest for companies with the highest proportion of H-1B employees on its staff

Remove the cap of 20,000 currently placed on the number of H-1B visas that can be issued to graduates with higher degrees such as master's degrees and doctorates

Bill 'does a lot to address our concerns' – Intel

US IT and tech firms have given the bill a cautious welcome. Peter Muller, the policy director of Intel Corporation said of the bill, 'This really does a lot to address our concerns about being able to hire workers when we need them…we're certainly going to be looking into the details of this going forward…but, in terms of the bigger picture, we're very encouraged and pleased'.

The group FWD.us, formed by Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook last week to lobby for immigration reform on behalf of the tech industry, has yet to comment on the bill.

Dan Turrentine of Technet, another Tech industry association, said 'We're very encouraged that they produced a bill and we see a lot of positives but we do have some concerns to see how it works out'.

'H-1B provisions will be a disaster' - National Foundation for American Policy

However, there are dissenting voices. Reuters reports Stuart Anderson of the National Foundation for American Policy, as saying 'The H-1B provisions will be a disaster.'

It is by no means certain that the bill will ever become law, despite support from the President and senior figures in the two major parties as well as industrialists, farmers, unions, churches and pro-immigration reform organisations. This is because of the nature of the US political system and the even balance of power in Congress which combine to make it difficult for legislation to pass without the support of both major US parties.

Although President Obama won the Presidential election convincingly in November 2012, the Congressional elections held at the same time were less convincing. It left Congress with an even balance of power. The Democrats narrowly control the upper house; The Senate and the Republicans narrowly hold the lower house, The House of Representatives.

Bill requires bipartisan support

To become law, the bill will have to be passed by both houses and will therefore need support from both Democrats and Republicans. While the bill has been drafted by Republicans and Democrats together, this does not guarantee that support.

While senior Republican strategists have now voice their support for reform, many other Republicans, particularly those sponsored by the right-wing, anti-immigration Tea Party movement, will almost certainly oppose the bill.

While many Republicans and Democrats have accepted that the US immigration reform is not working correctly for some years, the number of anti-immigration, Tea Party sponsored, right-wing

Republicans increased at the last election and some of these have already said that they will not support the bill.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

A British court has heard allegations that a UK immigration officer demanded illegal payments from visa applicants and warned them that, if they refused to pay, their applications would be refused.

This week, a jury at Croydon Crown Court was told that Waseem Majid, 35, of Woolwich, south-east London and two others; Sanam Mia, 43, also of Woolwich, and Muhammed Qadiri, 53, of Ilford, east London, had conspired to breach UK immigration laws. The three deny all charges.

The prosecution alleges that Majid would take the details of applicants to his home and then contact them by phone. He would then threaten to refuse their applications unless he received payments of up to £1,000.

Applicant received anonymous demand for £1,000

The court heard evidence from one applicant, Nirmal Ramdeehul from Mauritius. Mr Ramdeehul told the court he had received a phone call from a withheld phone number and received a demand for £1,000. He was told that, if he did not pay, his application would be refused. Mr Ramdeehul refused to pay and, some time later, his application was refused.

The prosecution says that when Mr Majid's house was raided in November 2011, officers found a 'mass' of documentation containing private information about UK immigration applicants. Officers also found lists of names of applicants with amounts of money between £500 and £1,000 written next to the names.

Sanwar Ali of workpermit.com said 'I do not wish to comment on this particular case, particularly before the jury has reached its decision, but I would advise anyone who has made an application for a UK visa who is then asked to make an irregular payment to contact the police.'

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

There are opportunities in New Zealand for intrepid workers, particularly in the construction industry but also in many other trades and professions in the rebuilding of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury Region on New Zealand's South Island.

On 4th September 2010, the Canterbury region was hit by a powerful earthquake which measured 7.1 on the Richter scale. There followed a series of aftershocks which ran into 2012. The most powerful and devastating of these occurred close to the city of Christchurch on 22 February 2011.

The quake caused extensive damage to the city. Christchurch cathedral was destroyed and 185 people were killed. The loss of life was comparatively low for such a large earthquake because many buildings were quake-resistant but many of these buildings must now be demolished. The New Zealand government plans to rebuild the city which will cost an estimated NZ$8.5bn (£4.7bn).

Rebuild delayed by aftershocks

So far, little has been done because the aftershocks continued into 2012 but the rebuild is now getting seriously under way. Many of the jobs are in construction but there are also jobs going in many ancillary service professions.

Jason Walker of Hays New Zealand told the New Zealand Herald that Christchurch needs construction workers, accountants, office support and IT professionals, legal secretaries and many others. 'The colossal staffing needs of organisations involved in Christchurch's rebuild are here to stay for some time' he said.

But Christchurch, even with the lure of more jobs and better pay than the rest of New Zealand is finding it hard to lure New Zealanders. Many of them have told pollsters that they are unwilling to move to Christchurch despite the fact that the jobs market is booming there. The reasons they give are mainly

Fear of further earthquakes and

The lack of property and services

New Zealanders not keen to go to Christchurch

This means that there are likely to be even more jobs available for immigrants. The Christchurch recruitment firm Canstaff has already set up one office in the UK and is about to open a second. Canstaff's managing director Matt Jones said 'certainly, things are picking up. There's no question about that'.

In the last year, there has been a net increase of 1,600 foreign workers in Christchurch. The greatest number of foreign workers has moved from the Philippines on two year temporary work visas. They tend to come alone without their families to work. There are also significant numbers of British and Irish workers.

Lana Hart of the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce told award winning New Zealand news website stuff.co.nz that the rebuild of Christchurch had begun in earnest.

Felicity Ryan of Ryan Recruitment, a New Zealand recruitment company, said that it was 'no surprise, that increase [in immigration], with what's going on in Canterbury and it's going to continue'.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has announced changes to the 485 Post-Study Work visa which will allow some graduates with advanced degrees to remain in Australia for up to four years after completing their courses.

The 485 visa was introduced in 2007 and allowed graduates to stay and work in Australia for 18 months after graduation. From 23rd March a new regime has been introduced. Now, some graduates who were granted their first Australian study visa after November 5th 2011 will be able to apply to stay for longer.

Graduates with bachelors' degrees can now stay for up to two years, those with a master's degree can stay for two or three years and those with doctorates can stay for four years.

485 visa now split into two streams

The 485 visa has now been split into two streams, the Graduate Work Stream and the Post-Study Work Stream. Applicants for both streams will have to meet the following criteria:

Must not have previously held a 485 or 476 visa

Be proficient in English to the 'competent' level

Be able to prove that you are of 'good health'

studied at a qualifying Australian institution in Australia for at least 16 months finishing within the last six months.

The Graduate Work Stream is for graduates who have gained a qualification qualifying them to work in an occupation which is on the Australian Shortage Occupation List. To qualify you must:

Have a degree in a subject closely linked to your profession (e.g. pharmacist with a pharmacy degree)

Have been assessed as competent by a suitable assessing authority and have received a letter confirming your competence.

Graduate stream visas will still last for only 18 months from the date of grant.

Post-study work visas will last up to four years

The Post-Study Work visa is for graduates in any subject and will allow graduates to stay in Australia and work for up to four years. In order to qualify for this stream you must:

Have received your first Australian student visa after 5th November 2011.

Hold a qualifying qualification. This will be a bachelor's or master's degree or a doctoral degree from an Australian university or other qualifying educational institution.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Chris Grayling, the UK's Lord Chancellor, (as the justice minister is called in the UK) has announced changes to the justice system which will limit the right of people to use the courts to challenge decisions made by the UK immigration authorities. The changes are due to come into force this summer and will bar some people from bringing 'judicial review' (JR) against immigration decisions and increase the costs of doing so.

Mr Grayling says that immigration solicitors have been using JR as 'a cheap delaying tactic' and he is therefore determined to limit its use. 77% of JRs are brought in immigration cases.

JR is a legal proceeding whereby someone who believes that a public body (such as the Home Office) has made an unlawful or incorrect decision can apply to the UK's High Court for a ruling that the decision was wrong in law. The court can order the public body to reconsider its decision and to pay damages.

Mr Grayling and officials at the UK's Ministry of Justice are concerned that the number of JR applications has been rising in recent years. There were 6,692 applications in 2007 and 11,359 in 2011. Of those made in 2011, 8,734 were against immigration decisions.

Solicitors using Judicial Review as a delaying tactic

Mr Grayling says that immigration solicitors have been using JR to delay deportation of their clients even when they have no realistic chance of success. He points to the low success rate in JRs to support his case: Of the 8,734 judicial reviews of immigration decisions brought in 2011, only 31 (0.35%) were ultimately successful. He says that solicitors apply anyway because, even where an application for JR is ultimately unsuccessful, it can hold up a deportation considerably.

This is because of the way the JR procedure works. Before a JR can be brought, the solicitor must first apply for permission to judicially review a decision. A single judge will consider an application for permission by reading the papers presented by the applicant's solicitor. He will decide whether the papers disclose an arguable case. If they do, then the judge will grant permission to the applicant to apply for JR. If they do not, he will refuse permission.

In 2011, of the 8,734 applications for permission made, only 607 (7%) were granted leave to apply for JR. It took an average 83 days (nearly three months) for each unsuccessful application for permission to be dealt with. Where the judge granted leave to apply for JR, it took 275 days (nine months) for the review to be completed. Only 31 (5%) of those 607 decisions were found to have been unlawful.

New regime is intended to reduce number of applications

In order to limit the number of applications Mr Grayling has proposed the following changes

A new £215 fee to be paid by applicants who wish to appear before a judge to argue their case after being refused permission to apply for JR

Barring people from applying for a hearing in person where their case is found to be 'totally without merit' by the judge

Mr Grayling said 'Judicial review should be used by people who have carefully considered whether they have proper grounds to challenge a decision. We are changing the system so it cannot be used anymore as a cheap delaying tactic'.

However, the opposition justice spokesman Sadiq Khan has condemned the changes. He said they would result in more 'unlawful decisions going unchecked'. Mr Khan said 'no government should be above the law. It is essential that where the government or other public body has acted unlawfully, a judge can hold them to account.'

A spokesperson for the Immigration Law Practitioners Association said that there has been insufficient consultation and said that that the figures were misleading as in many cases where a judicial review application is made, a settlement is reached before the matter comes to court. This suggested that 'far from being unmeritorious, or deliberate 'delaying' tactics, the claims were properly and responsibly brought and conducted, and that the parties managed to achieve a resolution of the claim without using further court time and resources.'

Friday, May 3, 2013

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of facebook, has announced that he and other tech industry bosses have founded Fwd.us, a group which will lobby for reform of the US immigration and education systems. It has appointed advisors from both the Republican and the Democratic parties and will aim to be politically neutral. The group includes numerous well-known Silicon Valley figures including Marissa Meyer of Yahoo and Eric Schmidt of Google.

Mr Zuckerberg wrote an opinion piece which appeared in The Washington Post on Thursday April 11th 2013 in which he calls for

Comprehensive immigration reform 'allowing us to attract the most talented and hardest-working people no matter where they were born'

Better education for US students, particularly in technology, engineering and mathematics

Greater investment in scientific research for the public good.

Mr Zuckerberg says that the US is a land of immigrants. He is the great-grandchild of immigrants and a great example of the American story. He says 'My great-grandparents came through Ellis Island (the island where European immigrants arrived in New York). My grandfathers were a mailman and a police officer. My parents are doctors. I started a company.'

He continues 'None of this could have happened without a welcoming immigration policy'. He adds 'Today's students should have the same opportunities – but our current system blocks them. We have a strange immigration policy for a nation of migrants. And it's a policy unfit for today's world'.

US needs 'the most talented and hardest working people'

He says that it is especially important in today's world to retain the brightest immigrants in the US because 'today's economy is based primarily on knowledge and ideas – resources that are renewable and available to everyone….To lead the world in this new economy, we need the most talented and hardest-working people'. Mr Zuckerberg asks, when ideas are so important,

'Why do we kick out the more than 40% of math and science graduate students who are not US citizens after educating them?

Why do we offer so few H-1B visas for talented specialists that the supply runs out within days of becoming available each year, even though we know each of these jobs will create two or three more American jobs in return?

Why don't we let entrepreneurs move here when they have what it takes to start companies that will create even more jobs?'

Tech industry wants to see everyone benefit from knowledge economy

Mr Zuckerberg says that the new organisation, FWD.us will work with both political parties and the presidential administration to try to see its goals implemented. He says that it will use 'online and offline advocacy tools to build support for policy changes' and will aim to see 'all members of society gain from the rewards of the modern knowledge economy. The US tech industry has long been campaigning for reform of the US immigration system. Since 2007, the sector has backed various bills which would have seen

More H-1B visas – Temporary work visas which allow foreign graduates to work in the US in a 'specialty occupation'.

L-1 visas – L-1 visas are intra company transfer visas that allow international companies to transfer staff from overseas branches to the US.

L-1A visas are for managers and

L-1B visas are for skilled workers with 'specialized knowledge' of the 'petitioning organization's product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization's processes and procedures'.